“Do you feel that?” Tatiana asked. She tilted her head and scrutinized the sky. The clouds were beginning to move in a slow whirlpool. What was most impressive was the fact the effect extended far beyond just the area above the arena.

Randidly resisted the urge to smile. “Sometimes it felt like a fluke that these two got here with only Huang Li fighting… but that was just because most of what he was doing was subconscious, drawing on other’s strength at points when he should have been defeated. But now that he has reached out purposefully… Heh, this will be interesting to watch.”

Despite their images being very different, Huang Li had taken principles from Randidly’s Skills and images to innovate in new ways. Honestly, Randidly felt a gentle swell of pride in his chest.

“The effect is slightly similar to the Eidolon Crucible, only much more geared toward unity,” Tatiana observed. Then she poked Randidly in the side with a sly smile on her face. “Having you been playing favorites and giving out free lessons on the side? I hope you made Zone 7 pay an arm and a leg.”

“Nope, he did this all on his own.” Randidly shrugged.

Then his gaze shifted to the inert form of Blackhand and his smile faded. But… will this be enough? Show me whether the Earth really can create an image to overcome a monster.

*****

Huang Shou could see the efficient patterns of the corrosive and dangerous attacks from the ugly beast in front of him. It only took a few clashes for Shou to grasp the difference in their abilities. Perhaps in terms of physical strength they were equal, but the added poison that ran through the octopus’s body meant that Shou constantly needed to give up ground to survive.

Shou followed the developments passively; this much wasn’t enough to shake him even as the moves available to him over here were being restricted.

But there was another live stone on the board currently, in the form of Huang Li. Before the tournament, Shou had honestly not thought much of his adoptive grandson, despite his status as Captain of Zone 7’s guard. So he had come to the tournament, as an agent of Zone 7’s conservative faction to simply watch and teach the Glorious Leaders a very specific lesson. “Without the assistance of the conservative faction, you are only capable of this much”.

Heh. And yet after watching that boy bleed in front of me, I have suddenly become nostalgic for the toil of my own youth. Ah, age takes us all, eventually, Shou reflected. His brass Buddha lashed out left and right with its palms, putting on the appearance of a furious increase in strength. Of course, it cost him quite a bit of Stamina to do so, but he wanted to test his opponent.

Very cleanly, Richter manipulated the monster above him to act more passively while Shou exerted himself. Huang Shou narrowed his eyes as he watched Richter tighten his hands on the armrests of his wheelchair and regard him in turn. This boy… would be quite good at Go.

Still, he is young. With the space afforded to him, Shou ceased attacking and brought his hands together. “Purifying Resonance.” A shiver spread through Shou’s body as the sound of his clap cleansed much of the sinister energy that had seeped into him from Richter’s attacks. It was slightly shocking, however, that the effect was only able to rid him of 75% of the remnants. Some stubbornly gathered in the corners of his body, refusing to be shaken by a cleansing done in the heat of battle.

Richter gestured sharply and those casual swirling tentacles now thundered downward at the brass buddha with its hands pressed together. Huang Shou didn’t even blink; this was what he was waiting for. “Life is Suffering.”

White sigils flared to life across the body of the brass Buddha. Shou couldn’t keep the technique active for very long, but in that instant all damage that each of them took was reflected back on the other. But even as the Skill activated, Huang Shou’s wrinkled face twisted in shock. “You…!”

The tentacles smashed downward, spraying their corrosive and dark energy with their wild swings. The white sigils flared to life and transferred that damage back to Richter, whose face was locked into a grimace. Richter and Shou looked eyes for a long moment, feeling each other’s agony. Then both slumped backward, Richter in his chair and Huang Shou leaning heavily upon his cane. His fingers were sweaty.

The attacks from both sides ceased as both manifestations faded somewhat. In the end, the exchange was likely a draw. Shou gave Richter another deep look. “You… you have allowed something dark to take up residence within your legs, huh. Such an existence… truly admirable that you have persevered through the pain.”

“After a while, pain is just that: pain.” Richter wiped his hand blood leaking between his lips. “It is simply a body signaling a deviation from the typical. As long as that deviation is expected, you can easily ignore that signal.”

“A dangerous way of thinking. The mind is not the master of the body,” Huang Shou reprimanded. His Mana had been instantly drained using that Skill, but his image was quickly recovering to its former state. Then Shou shook his head. “Either way, you have lost. My partner has defeated yours and will come to help me finish you. Surrender now and spare yourself the humiliation of seeing your image crushed.”

Richter chuckled. “My partner has not been defeated… she is simply trading away more of her body for power.”

An image ballooned into existence behind him and Shou shifted his feet and narrowed his eyes at this new threat. Huang Li was about five meters behind him, bent over and clasping his wo dao with both hands like he was still recovering from the hit he had taken earlier. Perhaps fifteen meters beyond him, Blackhand straightened and stood.

The wizened hand lined with black veins reached up and ripped the remainder of the heavy cloak that obscured his features. What was waiting beneath was a middle-aged woman who looked to have one foot in the grave. Her skin was grey and covered in liver spots. The bags under her eyes were the color of a three-day-old bruise. Thick black veins wiggled like worms across her body. And her eyes were completely pitch black.

“Theodora Greyman…” Huang Shou said in shock. The impeached former president of Zone 1, who once was believed to be the greatest roadblock to Zone 7’s ascendance, now looked like she had was just a shell of her former self.

Theodora raised her head and seemed to scream with every fiber of her being. Her complexion grew increasingly pale and yet somehow, she didn’t produce the slightest sound. A second later, a wave of that dark energy exploded from her like she was just a pipeline to a lake of caustic sewage. While Richter’s image was only soaked with the energy to the point that each movement dripped it, this was the pure source.

Just as Shou made to shift to fight the new foe, Richter’s octopus monster surged forward and smashed its tentacles at his back. Snorting, Huang Shou brought his focus back around and unleashed another One-Thousand Palm. To his surprise, Richter’s bold attack crumpled rather easily; it seemed the Life is Suffering had inflicted more damage than he initially thought.

Which meant that Huang Shou could quickly overpower Richter if he gave him his full attention, but the new attack from behind would not give him that luxury. He glanced over with concern at the wounded Huang Li. “Grandson?”

“We see it, grandfather.” Huang Li straightened slowly. The wall of caustic energy rushed toward his face, but he didn’t even look at it. He simply nodded as though reassuring himself and raised his sword upward. The metal blade gleamed in the mid-morning sun.

The tip of the sword was perfectly upward. Huang Shou found the form reassuring, but there wasn’t a single image that hung over that slash. It was just a normal sword to Huang Shou’s confused eyes.

Huang Li spoke again before he attack. “I bet you can see it too, if you look. The True Dragon’s Shadow… Sky-Slaying Slash!”

The blade fell.

For a second, the sound of the wind drowned out everything else. Huang Shou’s eardrums ruptured and blood tricked out of his ears. He could only watch with wide eyes, as though he were watching one of the silent movies of his youth. Huang Li swung his sword gracefully downward and something began to stir.

Huang Shou’s eyes shot upward and he witnessed it for the briefest moment; an image even larger than the stadium, staring down at Theodora Greyman with disdain. The wave of dark energy rushed forward and was split without being able to resist at all.

Bringing his palms together, Huang Shou scraped together enough Mana and brought his hands together. He shaped the word with his mouth but heard nothing but the roaring wind. “Harmonious Resonance.”

The energy ran through Shou’s body and healed all his surface wounds. His eardrums were once more restored.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!

Crack!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The collision at the end was so powerful that Huang Shou was knocked to his knees when the concussive aftershocks hit his body. He was breathing heavily, struggling to see the outcome through the dirt and debris. There was no way… that she would be able to block that, correct…?

As the dust cleared, Huang Shou’s expression twisted in unwillingness and bitterness. Theodora Greyman was still standing, seemingly unharmed. But then that grimace faded into confusion. Huang Li was panting and dropped his sword. The weapon hit the ground and shattered into a thousand minuscule chunks of twisted metal.

The strain of supporting that image had been too much.

Suddenly, a man with short black hair was standing between Huang Li and Theodora Greyman. His emerald eyes weighed them both equally, then he turned to Huang Li. “You need to be careful, utilizing vast images like that. She would have died if I hadn’t intervened, and you might have destroyed a portion of the stands in the process.”

Randidly Ghosthound rapped his knuckle solemnly against the large, thorny root that had cracked the Donnyton marble arena to interpose itself between Theodora Greyman and the attack. Huang Shou was intrigued by the glimmering golden roots across the root, but his eyes were drawn to the deep gash that oozed sap. Huang Li’s strike had almost bisected the root completely.

Huang Li blinked and then bowed deeply. Then the Ghosthound turned to Theodora Greyman and gave her another few seconds of scrutiny. “...anything you want to say? You almost died from two things, just now.”

The inky-blackness faded from Theodora’s eyes. But the whites of her eyes were lost in the deep bags that weighed her gaze down. “Why…. why do I always lose to you…?”

“Madam Greyman…” Randidly Ghosthound turned away from her. “We were never competing to begin with. The winners of this round… are Zone 7’s Huang Shou and Huang Li. Any objections?”

The Ghosthound glanced sideways at Richter, but the young man just sighed. Then the crowd began to cheer.

Heh, I appreciate the nod, but this time… Huang Shou looked at the silhouette of his adoptive grandson. It is not I that should have been announced first.